REAL BEER AND GOOD EATS

The Rebirth of America's Beer and Food Traditions

The rollicking California-based authors of Hot Links and Country Flavors (1990)--Aidells, a sausage-maker with a Ph.D., and Kelly, who writes and teaches about wine and food--are back with an all-American beer book that combines: a history of beer-making and beer-drinking in America; 175 recipes for pickling onions and smoking fish and preparing other gutsy food that is cooked with beer or goes with beer; and a survey of the new microbreweries, regional breweries, brew pubs, and other small beer companies that constitute, the authors say, a ``genuine beer renaissance'' throughout the land. Oddly, considering the subject, the prose here hasn't the lusty, free-wheeling drive that made Hot Links a trip to read--but this is still a beer-lovers' boon: a guide to choice beers, beer touring, and old-fashioned lip-smackin' eats to wash down with the brew of your newly enlightened choice.